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Tuesday, October 31. 2006

SkylineGlobe Released

After a non-release announcement earlier this month, today I got word from Skyline Software about the official announcement. SkylineGlobe.com is available. [Update 11/1/06: It's officially announced but apparently still in beta per comments below.]

Of note:

- a free API that lets users host there own tools (functions and or data) for free
- a commercial API for those who want to integrate 3D into apps or build app from scratch
- SkylineGlobe Pro will be out in two months or so and will include more data, more tools than the free version
- more data available including Europe and Japan
- local language support available

Q: How is this different from Google Earth?
A: "It's about showcasing what other developers have built."

Directions reviewed SkylineGlobe.com in June.

Posted by Adena Schutzberg at 09:13 | Comments (3) | Trackbacks (0)

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As interesting as this project is (could be), there are some crucial problems with it.
Fist: the incredibly sluggish loading time. People are used to fast loading displays (yes, I know, Google has really spoiled us) and nobody will wait minutes on a fast line to see the imagery.
Second: the low resolution imagery for places outside the U.S. I was looking at the imagery of my home country New Zealand and the imagery seems to be 30m Landsat TM. 3 years ago that was quite nice but today, we expect sub-meter resolution (at least for the major populated areas).
Third: the controls are not intuitive. It took me (working in the GIS field) quite some trial & error to figure out how to rotate the map, tilt, etc. When I show Google Earth to anyone seeing it for the first time, everybody seems to feel comfortable moving around right away.

My guess is, as long as those problems exist, there won't be many people using SkylineGlobe (but then, it's still BETA, so we might see improbements soon).
#1 J.B. on 2006-10-31 15:24 (Reply)
" (but then, it's still BETA, " - no, it's released. So said the rep I spoke with today.
#1.1 Adena Schutzberg (Link) on 2006-10-31 17:17 (Reply)
It is a release, of our Beta version
#1.1.1 Anonymous on 2006-10-31 18:01 (Reply)

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